A cultureme is any portion of cultural behavior apprehended in signs of symbolic value that can be broken down into smaller units or amalgamated into larger ones. A cultureme is a "cultural information-bearing unit", the contents of which are recognizable by a group of people. Culturemes are the bridge between linguistic units and culture.

Their usage can be seen in cultural expressions, phraseologisms, jokes, slogans, literature, religion, folklore, sociology, anthropology, etc. All of which are subcultures in a culture system. Culturemes of this nature have historical relevance that when translated or explained result in a miscommunication and misunderstanding.

The notion of cultureme is being increasingly used in translation studies and other disciplines. It is a recently used concept that is yet to be defined and distinguished from others, such as phraseme, idiom, symbol, cultural word, etc.

Fernando Poyatos breaks down the features of a cultureme into four phases. These phases analysis the broadest of culturemes to the most particular aspects of culturemes.

Basic culturemes are the broadest of culturemes. They characterize the initial semblance of a culture. Basic culturemes are separated into two cultural "realms," urban and rural, and two domains: exterior and interior. Basic culturemes begin with urban and rural realms because of their dichotomy in cultural identity and displays of social interactions. Within either cultures, there are exteriors (what is observed from the outside) and interiors (what is observed from the inside of buildings or establishments that are not seen from an outdoors perspective). The main divisions of culturemes are: urban-exterior, urban-interior, rural-exterior, and rural-interior.

The significance of basic culturemes is to give a general sense of surroundings. For instance,

"in North America (United States and Canada): the larger size of many automobiles, the summery sound and smell of lawn mowing, the smell of city bus exhausts, the basic separation of the 'downtown' business and residential areas in the small town or village, the sirens of their police cars, the smell of hamburger and French fries of many eating establishments, the unique drugstore smell, the 'Licensed' signs in many second-rate restaurants (indicating a cultural attitude towards drinking"

Primary culturemes exist in the phase when acculturation occurs, in which one's culture is becoming more complex. The four basic culturemes are subcategorized into environmental (cultural settings) and behavioral (behaviors of people and their interactions). These culturemes are a result of recognizing cultural patterns and "experiencing it through mere observation or systemic learning."